For months and months I've been wanting to write an essay about some thoughts on the Long Tail. I've finally had the time. (The material was part of the talk I gave for TTI/Vanguard and I had time on the plane to turn the slides into an essay.)

The basic idea is that the value of the Long Tail isn't just that you make money selling an awful lot of unpopular things. The value comes from the fact that the long tail is the reason many people will choose one tool or system over another. I give some theory and examples to show why.